ASUS RT-AX68U vs RT-AC68U. Worth the Upgrade?

[Jerom7]

Thank you. If AX68U has much better range than AC86U, it has better range than AX88U too. I have some doubts about it.

Yes I'm interested in range / wifi signal comparison between AX68 and AX88 if you had the occasion to deploy both?
(Around 200€ in France for a new AX68 and same price for a second hand AX88. No need for extra features, only wifi with wifi 5 "ac" devices/clients for now.)

 

[L&LD]

I don't dabble in theoretical. I can only state the results I've seen myself.

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode

Maximum range, like maximum speeds, is a great marketing point. But a specific person's home is a fixed quantity. I don't know anyone that needs 'their' WiFi at their neighbors, 10 doors down.

Of course, there are others that do need range and the same model may or may not be a good match for them.

The best router I have ever used for range was the RT-AC3100. But that is so easily eclipsed by today's options, in most homes.

RT-AC3100 Report https://www.snbforums.com/threads/s...-go-with-the-rt-ac1900p-v3.34748/#post-281391

 

[Jerom7]

Ok, thanks for the tip !
AC3100 is RT-AC88U looks like... Nice, it's around 120€ second hand here.
(I got one of those last year in my hands for a few months.)

 

[Yota]

BTW, a friend recently replaced his RT-AC68U with an RT-AX86U. He saw significant improvements in coverage in his two-floor house, to the point that he didn`t even need to repurpose the RT-AC68U as an AiMesh node, the new RT-AX86U alone resolved his coverage issues.

I always hear people say that they get better wifi coverage after upgrading their routers, but I think this is impossible. The radio power has always been limited to the same level, and the wifi antenna has not changed. I don't understand why there is such a change? I prefer to believe that these are cognitive biases and some kind of illusion, otherwise it is asus bypassing local legal restrictions.

 

[frequenzy]

I can definitely confirm that I get better wireless throughput when I upgrade from AC68U to AX86U. Tests are performed using iphone12pro and iperf3 running on a NAS.

 

[Yota]

I can definitely confirm that I get better wireless throughput when I upgrade from AC68U to AX86U. Tests are performed using iphone12pro and iperf3 running on a NAS.

That's because you benefit from 802.11 AX's 1024-QAM instead of radio power. In fact, because of 1024-QAM, you will be more likely to encounter throughput bottlenecks at long distances because they will bring more bit errors.

 

[RMerlin]

I always hear people say that they get better wifi coverage after upgrading their routers, but I think this is impossible. The radio power has always been limited to the same level, and the wifi antenna has not changed. I don't understand why there is such a change? I prefer to believe that these are cognitive biases and some kind of illusion, otherwise it is asus bypassing local legal restrictions.

@thiggins did some testing/writeup about this a few years ago. He might be able to link to his article.

Newer routers come with a few improvements that can help with coverage:

- Better antenna diversity (when going from 3 to 4 streams, for instance), helps coverage by having more bounced signals and also helps with Beamforming
- Better amps and filters, which might be able to better handle weaker signals with less signal distortion
- An RT-AX86U does offer a few improvements technology-wise over an RT-AC68U. Beamforming can help improve coverage at medium ranges for instance.
- Switching to Wifi6 from Wifi5
- Radio tunings. Radios don't just blast at full power at all time (unlike back in the 802.11g days). There are elaborate calibration files used by the driver that determines the power level used by each stream based on the number of streams, the encoding method, etc... These may get finetuned over time to improve coverage and/or performance.

Now, people shouldn't expect miracles, especially if they are just upgrading from Wifi6 to Wifi6. But when upgrading from a 7 years old router, technical improvements can help with coverage and speed.

 

[Yota]

@thiggins did some testing/writeup about this a few years ago. He might be able to link to his article.

Newer routers come with a few improvements that can help with coverage:

- Better antenna diversity (when going from 3 to 4 streams, for instance), helps coverage by having more bounced signals and also helps with Beamforming
- Better amps and filters, which might be able to better handle weaker signals with less signal distortion
- An RT-AX86U does offer a few improvements technology-wise over an RT-AC68U. Beamforming can help improve coverage at medium ranges for instance.
- Switching to Wifi6 from Wifi5
- Radio tunings. Radios don't just blast at full power at all time (unlike back in the 802.11g days). There are elaborate calibration files used by the driver that determines the power level used by each stream based on the number of streams, the encoding method, etc... These may get finetuned over time to improve coverage and/or performance.

Now, people shouldn't expect miracles, especially if they are just upgrading from Wifi6 to Wifi6. But when upgrading from a 7 years old router, technical improvements can help with coverage and speed.

I do have 802.11g devices (I mean I am a bit outdated xD), I think I need to update my knowledge of 802.11ax, I’m reading this article ( http://intronetworks.cs.luc.edu/current/html/wireless.html ) I hope it will help.

 

[Yota]

@thiggins did some testing/writeup about this a few years ago. He might be able to link to his article.

Newer routers come with a few improvements that can help with coverage:

- Better antenna diversity (when going from 3 to 4 streams, for instance), helps coverage by having more bounced signals and also helps with Beamforming
- Better amps and filters, which might be able to better handle weaker signals with less signal distortion
- An RT-AX86U does offer a few improvements technology-wise over an RT-AC68U. Beamforming can help improve coverage at medium ranges for instance.
- Switching to Wifi6 from Wifi5
- Radio tunings. Radios don't just blast at full power at all time (unlike back in the 802.11g days). There are elaborate calibration files used by the driver that determines the power level used by each stream based on the number of streams, the encoding method, etc... These may get finetuned over time to improve coverage and/or performance.

Now, people shouldn't expect miracles, especially if they are just upgrading from Wifi6 to Wifi6. But when upgrading from a 7 years old router, technical improvements can help with coverage and speed.

I realized that when we discussed coverage, we paid too much attention to connection quality and speed. The comparison between 802.11AX and AC is unnecessary, because when considering the range, they are both 5GHz/6GHz, and they cannot be compared with 2.4GHz.

However, the router's 2.4GHz radio power and antenna design have not changed, and the 2.4GHz technology will not change with the new router, so I still doubt the view that replacing the router can improve the coverage.

I have some experience. After switching from 2.4GHz to 5GHz + 2.4GHz dual-band router, the coverage effect has not improved, but the transmission speed has been significantly improved. However, we are not talking about transmission speed, but coverage, are we?

But the new WiFi drivers, the effects of more antennas, and the most important amps and filters may indeed bring improvements, but I still hope to know more information about that.

 

[TexasFlood]

I always hear people say that they get better wifi coverage after upgrading their routers, but I think this is impossible. The radio power has always been limited to the same level, and the wifi antenna has not changed. I don't understand why there is such a change? I prefer to believe that these are cognitive biases and some kind of illusion, otherwise it is asus bypassing local legal restrictions.

I recently upgraded from an RT-AC66U to a RT-AX86U and the 5Ghz range was noticably better. It's the first time that I've gotten 5Ghz coverage of my entire home.

 

[BobD]

I have an RT-AX86U. My Router is co-located with my ONT in a bedroom wardrobe. Not the best spot but I get as much wifi speed as my peripheral devices can handle at all locations in my house. This is certainly better than my ac68u.

 

[Tech9]

I always hear people say that they get better wifi coverage after upgrading their routers, but I think this is impossible.

RT-AC68U upgrade to RT-AC86U gives you ~20% better usable range, or better speeds at the same distance - AC Wave 2 radio difference. RT-AC1900P with newer style antennas is also better than original RT-AC68U - antenna design difference. All three routers fit in Tx power regulations.

 

[Yota]

RT-AC68U upgrade to RT-AC86U gives you ~20% better usable range, or better speeds at the same distance - AC Wave 2 radio difference. RT-AC1900P with newer style antennas is also better than original RT-AC68U - antenna design difference. All three routers fit in Tx power regulations.

In most jurisdictions, the Tx power limit is 250mW, and Asus routers are usually controlled within 100mW. And different routers and different firmwares may use different power.

I recently upgraded from an RT-AC66U to a RT-AX86U and the 5Ghz range was noticably better. It's the first time that I've gotten 5Ghz coverage of my entire home.

This will be very interesting, what client do you use? Is it just WIFI5 (802.11AC) or WIFI6 (802.11AX)? What is their limit connection rate? Can you confirm the different settings in the 5GH advanced settings of the router? you also need to consider the effect of the antenna on the signal.

Assumption: the antenna and WiFi power are the same, and the same WiFi technology is used, then I don't think other changes can affect the coverage of the router.

In addition, I do know that Asus has made many power adjustments for the old routers, which basically caused the WiFi coverage to drop. This MAY BE a way for them to accelerate the aging of old routers, but this is just a GUESS. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/increase-tx-power-in-latest-firmwares.21746/

 

[Tech9]

Assumption: the antenna and WiFi power are the same, and the same WiFi technology is used, then I don't think other changes can affect the coverage of the router.

There is RF sensitivity factor. I used to build long range radios years ago. If they all worked the same, I would have built one only.

 

[RMerlin]

However, the router's 2.4GHz radio power and antenna design have not changed, and the 2.4GHz technology will not change with the new router, so I still doubt the view that replacing the router can improve the coverage.

Re-read what I wrote. I gave you an explanation as to why range and coverage CAN improve when upgrading from an old AC model to a newer AX model.

In most jurisdictions, the Tx power limit is 250mW, and Asus routers are usually controlled within 100mW. And different routers and different firmwares may use different power.

Again, please read what I wrote on this. Radios aren't just a fixed emitter that always blast at the exact maximum allowed output. It's much more complex than that.

 

[TexasFlood]

In most jurisdictions, the Tx power limit is 250mW, and Asus routers are usually controlled within 100mW. And different routers and different firmwares may use different power.


This will be very interesting, what client do you use? Is it just WIFI5 (802.11AC) or WIFI6 (802.11AX)? What is their limit connection rate? Can you confirm the different settings in the 5GH advanced settings of the router? you also need to consider the effect of the antenna on the signal.

Assumption: the antenna and WiFi power are the same, and the same WiFi technology is used, then I don't think other changes can affect the coverage of the router.

In addition, I do know that Asus has made many power adjustments for the old routers, which basically caused the WiFi coverage to drop. This MAY BE a way for them to accelerate the aging of old routers, but this is just a GUESS. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/increase-tx-power-in-latest-firmwares.21746/

I have mostly WiFi5 clients. The WiFi6 clients are the closest ones to the AX86U so it's really the WiFi5 clients where I'm noticing the improvement. Airtime fairness and universal beamforming are off. I changed one of those to disable it and the other was defaulted to off. I think it was airtime fairness that I disabled but can't recall for sure. All other 5Ghz settings are stock. There are three external antennae of about the same size on the same location as my old router.

 

[Tech9]

so it's really the WiFi5 clients where I'm noticing the improvement

AC Wave 2

 

[TexasFlood]

AC Wave 2

Thanks. Didn't know that.

 

[Jerom7]

Nice info, I'll go for the AX series as well rather than older AC rigs...

Do you have some feeddback for AX56 and AX58 models ? Would you recommend them or rather to stay away even for entry level ?...

(They can be found second hand around 110€ compared to newest AX68 new for about 70€ more. But if it's worth it I'll add those 70 bucks.)

 

[Tech9]

Do you have some feeddback for AX56 and AX58 models ?

I have one AX58U in my collection and I don't like it. It's ugly and looks cheap, takes more space for no reason, with non-removable antennas, works only when it feels like it and has software locked features. To add confusion there is different hardware AX58U V2 in the wild with no Asuswrt-Merlin support.